USO News

Paul Hendricksen was asked to put a dollar amount on what he
thought he was worth.

It was a way for the USO/Hire Heroes USA Career Transition
Workshop instructor to find out where the then-Army staff sergeant’s head was
at, along with those of his workshop peers.

“The facilitators were surprised to hear me claim that I
thought I was worth $65,000 even though I barely had an associate degree,” said
Hendricksen, who successfully transitioned out of Fort Carson, Co., last year
and now earns even more than he projected as both a railroad conductor with the
Colorado-Wyoming Railway and a small business operator.

“Most of the guys who get out are younger soldiers in their
early 20s with little to no experience prior to the military,” he said. “If
you’re getting out of the military, you need to be aware of exactly what your
skills are so that you can sell yourself. There aren’t many of us enlisted guys
coming out with degrees, and many will be hard-pressed to earn a wage high
enough to maintain the lifestyle they had while they were in the military.”

Hendricksen enlisted as an infantryman, but it eventually
became his job to manage other soldiers who were transitioning out around the
same time as him. He went through the military’s Transition Assistance Program
(TAP) and then chose to attend a USO/Hire Heroes USA Transition Workshop in
order to better assist his troops.

USO/Hire Heroes USA Transition Workshops are a starting
point primarily for wounded, ill and injured troops and their spouses and
caregivers on the road to integrating into the civilian workplace. The workshop
trainers are a combination of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, former corporate
human resources specialists and recruiters and career counselors who provide
insights to troops moving from the military to the civilian world.

There are scores of USO/Hire Heroes USA Transition Workshops
at military installations across the United States each year, including one
that is wrapping up today at Camp Pendleton, Calif.. There will also be workshops Aug.
13-14 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., Aug. 20-21 in Fort Riley, Kan., and
Aug. 27-28 in Fort Knox, Ky.

With a 5-to-1 attendee-to-instructor ratio, these
informative workshops help troops understand how their military experience
translates into the civilian world and teaches them how to present themselves
on paper and in person to potential employers. Attendees receive sample resumes
of people with similar military occupational specialties to their own to use as
templates for building their resumes, and even participate in mock interviews
with local employers at the close of the workshop.

When Hendricksen attended the workshop, he brought along a
resume that he thought was industry standard. He said the Hire Heroes USA instructor
spent a considerable amount of time re-tailoring it for the types of jobs
he was seeking. That personal touch made all the difference to Hendricksen,
who has stayed in contact with Hire Heroes USA ever since.

“There were little
things I would learn each day to add to my tool box,” Hendricksen said, “and it
motivated me to find work, which I had to do for the sake of my son.”

After the USO/Hire Heroes USA Transition Workshop helped
improve his resume, Hendricksen went out and secured the
job he was looking for to support himself and his 6-year-old son. He even had
extra terminal leave to spend fly fishing before starting his new career.

“Unfortunately most of these guys who are
applying for wage-grade jobs, the transition is anything but seamless,” he
said. “Add on top of that the problem of not being able to forecast the tax
withholdings and benefits of a job you haven’t even interviewed for, and you
can see why a lot of guys end up under water.”

Caption: Paul Hendricksen was able to turn his experience at a USO/Hire Heroes USA Transition Workshop into a job. Photo courtesy of Hire Heroes USA